Honestly, except for faster recycle times ... or full on sun at high noon .... the need for multiple speed lights in a softbox isn't that high ... for location portraiture, I use a single SB800 in a photoflex small SB all the time ... I'll bungee a second SB800 once in a while if I need more light, but most often, one unit is all I need.
Bottom line: If you need this and can afford it, go for it. Just depends on your perspective.
I will say that Dave Black endorsing it is a bit misleading. He can shoot, so regardless of what multi flash modifier box you gave him, he would make it work.
Also remember he does work with a lot of strobes, like McNally. If I'm already invested in a half dozen plus speedlights, this wouldn't really be a bad idea. 2 stops more juice, high speed sync, a hand grip. It's a well thought out product, for a small niche of photographers. The fact that you may not be in that niche is neither good nor bad, it just is what it is.
I prefer having options, even if some of them are not worth it to me, simply because it breeds competition amongst vendors.
David Bergman is another candidate. He's almost constatnly on the road/in the air, and usually traveling without assistants as he photographs rock bands for record labels etc. Small is big for him, and he uses tons of Nikon speedlites.
It goes without saying that the light quality will be nicer with an Elinchrom Quadra (my choice any day of the week), but if you've already got 10+ small flashes that you cover with gels like crazy, set ratios between, etc, this is a boon.
To make such modifier-to put 3 -4 flashes together isn't such a big deal (DIY).The "problem" is the softbox you put it in...But if you build such a modifier you could use it with a big umbrella (not as big as the Jumbrella you linked here)
Regarding the cost/efficiency - this gadget doesn't turns to someone who is going to buy new studio gear,I'm quite sure almost each member here already has about 1-3 flashes (doesn't matters the brand)...
wilrobking wrote:
You don't need multiple Pocket Wizards to trigger multiple flashes. Go to the bottom of my blog and see what I've done. Works like a charm.
I will wait and see whether they will come out different(larger) sizes and configurations such as silver interior instead of white interior or not. I don't expect they will make different shapes, however, due to the design. It is square only as its name indicates.
wilrobking wrote:
You don't need multiple Pocket Wizards to trigger multiple flashes. Go to the bottom of my blog and see what I've done. Works like a charm.
The biggest thing I see about this is convenience in adjusting the power. Seems very tedious every time you want to adjust one thing, not including all the math in your head to calculate how many stops you lose by going from 1/1 to 1/2 on just one light.
Then factor in the cost of all 4 lights, the triggering devices, and now the weight and balance of 4 lights inside one box. Just doesn't seem logical to me. 2 is manageable, but 4?
I'll stick with single pack/head systems that are 2x as much, weight about the same too.
If you have to travel ultralight, then I can see this being useful, but I would rather have 4 small strobe softboxes, 4 lightstands and the rest since if you just have this setup, so much for rim, hair and other lighting without a bunch of reflectors and some gin.
wilrobking wrote:
You can't get one now anyways. Looks like they're out of stock for now.
Great! Can anyone who have purchased it tell me how even light from edge to edge you can get from it? Can you configure all your flashes to get a light intensity difference in various spots less than 0.2 stop?
An off-camera (though not totally wireless) e-TTL solution would be to set three of the flashes to Slave and one to Master, and connect the Master to the camera with one of these:
You could then also control other flashes, outside the box, via the Canon wireless technology, or put a Radio Popper transmitter on the Master and RP receivers on the distant flashes.
Cableaddict wrote:
Plus, you have to use THEIR softboxes.
It seems that with two umbrella holes, two threaded mounts of different sizes, plus the softbox pole holes, and the "coming soon" adapters, that it would be pretty simple to figure a way to mount the FourSquare bracket inside many other brands' modifiers.
I'm not saying that this thing is a replacement for studio strobes, but for those who are into this sort of thing -- SuperStrobists? -- there are lots of possibilites.
I think his conclusion is spot on: this product is not meant to be an either/or choice versus studio strobes, but that Speedlites are something every photographer should have at least two of, and a product like this basically takes gear we already have and increases its usefulness and value.
Can anyone who have purchased it tell me how even light from edge to edge you can get from it? Can you configure all your flashes to get a light intensity difference in various spots less than 0.2 stop?